alabama wins its first national title since 1992. the crimson tide scored a 37-21 victory in the bcs title game against the texas longhorns last night. alabama's mark ingram, heisman trophy win winner ran for 106 yards and two scores. colt mccoy was injured just a few minutes into the game and that's when freshman quarterback garrett gilbert stepped in, made a heck of an effort, but alas, that title goes to alabama and it was a late game, that's for sure. i'm heidi collins. have a great weekend, everybody. cnn newsroom continues with tony

harris. good morning, everyone. it is friday, january 8th. here are the top stories for you in the "cnn newsroom." the detroit bomb suspect in federal court today. the young nigerian charged with the attempted murder of 289 people sdwrnchts the nati-- the nation's jobless rate holding steady. and you will meet our hero nominee, good morning, everyone. i'm tony harris and you are in the "cnn newsroom." all right. let's work through this together. first up, the arctic blast sweeping from the great plains and midwest to the northeast and into the deep south. brutal winds that ripped down power lines in oklahoma yesterday are now driving down the windchills on the east coast. ice creating a travel nightmare for drivers across the country. the winter weather also causing delays at some major airports.

several deaths are blamed on the weather, especially in the hard-hit south. let's get you to our meteorologist rob marciano. he is live for us in memphis, tennessee. rob, before you get started, would you give us an update on the woman you featured yesterday who was having nightmares with the heat in her place. >> reporter: yeah, jacqueline mosley. she -- well, she got her heat turned on, as you may remember. the city got together with the power company and, by the way, the power is still working fine here, albeit cold. they have got the trolleys going here on main street, peabody place here. the snow is still coming down, just kind of flurries right now, but it's bitterly cold. 12 degrees. so you can imagine how cold that is if you have no heat. so there's a number of people, tony, who just can't pay their bills because of the economy. so that jacqueline mosley who you're talking about, after a year of being without power and heat, the power company turned her utilities on two days ago so she had two nights of warm home

to sleep in until at least the weather warms up. the update is that not only does she have lights and power at least for now, but i got a solicitation from somebody anonymously wants to pay her utility bill. >> that's terrific. >> reporter: to get her back on her feet. so that's one bit of good news. the other bit of good news is, you know we had some fatalities here earlier in the week because of the bitter cold. arctic blast number two, which is here now and worse than the first one, word from authorities is no fatalities last night. i can tell you with temperatures dipping into the single numbers and windchills well below zero, anybody who tried to survive in these elements would have had a tough time doing it. with this latest cold snap being as bad as it is, that's the two bits of good news. the length of it as we've been reporting and the scope of it is what makes this extremely rare, over a decade, in some cases over two decades since something like this has happened in the

south. we'll start to warm up in the beginning of the week but until then it's going to be a cold, cold weekend here in memphis. by the way, memphis, graceland is, elvis presley would have been 75 years today. even in a pair of blue suede shoes and elvis wig, i think you'd be pretty chilly walking down the streets of memphis. >> thank you very much. rob, appreciate it. thank you, si. checking our other big stories on our radar, the unemployment rate stayed put at 10% in december. the labor department says companies cut 85,000 jobs last month, ten times the number analysts had predicted. that said the november report was revised to show the economy created 4,000 jobs. the cold wave is helping drive energy costs higher. aaa reports regular unleaded gas cost an average $2.72 a gallon. that is almost a buck higher than a year ago. analysts say every dime increase takes $14 billion a year out of driver's pockets.

so rising prices could threaten the recovery big-time. several developments on the war on terror to tell you about. the fbi has arrested two men in the investigation of a bomb plot against new york city. authorities say the men are tied to the case of nauj beulah saza. president obama is calling for better improvements to airport security. the order stemmed from a report on missteps surrounding the christmas day bomb plot. >> the u.s. government had the information scattered throughout the system to potentially uncover this plot and disrupt the attack. rather than a failure to collect or share intelligence, this was a failure to connect and understand the intelligence that we already had. the 23-year-old nigerian charged in the christmas day terror plot is due in court today. umar farouk abdulmutallab faces

arraignment on charges tied to the attempt to blow up an airliner. deborah feyerick is at the federal courthouse in detroit. let's start here, abdulmutallab obviously facing serious charges. what's the maximum penalty and what's his lawyer's strategy, if we know? >> reporter: well, the maximum penalty right now is life in prison on multiple counts, obviously. those are multiple penalties that he's facing. his lawyer right now has been very quiet. initially right after he was arrested, he was talking to federal authorities. he is no longer talking to federal authorities. no one has heard from him outside of a very small circle of people. she is known for defending terror suspects. she is very well respected in the community. so he has a very good lawyer working on his behalf. now, as far as whether family is going to be here, that's still under question. it's also under question whether in fact the father has had any influence either on setting the tone or taking responsibility or

for ensuring this kid's character. all of that right now under investigation, tony. >> okay. deb, we're still trying to determine the extent of the ties to al qaeda, but it's clear that abdulmutallab has become al qaeda's poster child. if you would talk about that a bit. >> reporter: absolutely. think about it, tony. probably a couple of weeks ago nobody even knew about al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, at he represents what this organization is and what the organization is trying to do against the united states. now, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, this is the first time it has hit u.s. interests outside its normal area of operations. there are indications that he met with an american-born radical muslim cleric just a couple of weeks before setting out on this journey or within the time period that he was in yemen, i should say, excuse me, so really they have now

established a presence, if not physically, certainly psychologically within the united states. >> that's right. all right, deborah feyerick for us outside a federal court in detroit. appreciate it, thank you. since the christmas day terror scare we've been talking a lot about yemen. just ahead in our world view, paula newton explains how al qaeda manages to operate across large areas of that country. jacqui jeras is gathering the latest information on the weather, the intensity of this cold snap over large portions of the country. jacqui, i'm taking a look behind you and some of these temperatures, 27 in memphis, 35 here in atlanta. we'll talk to jacqui in just a couple of minutes. but right now, there you go, let's get you to the new york stock exchange now and we are selling. we are down 26 points. we are following these numbers of course for you throughout the day with susan lisovicz right here in the "cnn newsroom." we're back in a moment.

okay, class, our special guest is here -- ellen page. hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! [ female announcer ] the new classroom. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco.

so we've been telling you that hundreds of al qaeda fighters are believed to be in yemen. as we go to the map here, you'll see many of them finding refuge with anti-government tribes in remote areas. cnn's international security correspondent paula newton is in yemen for us and she looks at why al qaeda is able to operate so freely there. >> reporter: just beyond yemen's international airport in the capital's poor northern suburbs, a road begins leading to thousands of miles of yemeni tribal lands, effectively out of government control and the perfect setup for al qaeda. we're just about a mile from the international airport here. if you want to get an indication of how tribal they are here, we're going to try to go north up this road a couple of miles. that is where the al qaeda strikes have been taking place in the last few days. up until the last few weeks, the

government hasn't even dared enter that tribal area. but just as we're approaching the checkpoint, we're quickly turned away. >> right now he's getting calls saying we need to be out of this area. >> reporter: okay. so they're not even letting us approach the checkpoint. it is very telling here. it is just two miles down the road this way, through that checkpoint, and the government is saying, a, it's not safe for us to be there and, b, it's not safe for them to be there. it's not just there, there are huge tracks of desert and mountains across yemen, al qaeda sanctuaries where attacks like this are masterminded and executed. last march four south korean tourists and their yemeni guide were killed when a teenage sue sight bomber blew himself up. al qaeda claimed responsibility, saying the south koreans were u.s. allies in the war on terror. and just days later, when south korean investigators were in

this airport zone, the yemeni government says it uncovered yet another al qaeda plot against korean authorities. all possible because the government simply doesn't control wide areas of the country. and that's what the radical preacher is counting on. part of a large and powerful southern yemeni tribe, he's still out of american and yemeni reach, certainly sheltered by his tribe, even though yemeni officials confirm there is evidence he may have given umar farouk abdulmutallab the inspiration to attempt to blow up flight 253. paula newton, cnn, yemen. switching credit cards, should you close out the old account? personal finance editor gerri willis answers your e-mail questions. there she is. we'll talk to her in just a couple of minutes here in the "cnn newsroom." medicare.

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how you could start saving. my favorite thing about friday. well, okay, aside from the fact that it is friday. it is time for your personal finance editor, gerri willis, to answer your e-mails. are you ready to dive into the e-mail bag. >> let's go. >> this first e-mail comes from glenn and he writes i am 51 years old with two young children. i want to go back to school full time to become a pharmacist. what kind of financial aid options should i look into? what do you think here? >> reporter: well, you know, glenn, congratulations and there's a lot of work ahead of you. your best bets for money are the federal stafford loan and the

graduate plus loan. max out that stafford first because it's cheaper, the interest rates are lower. your plus loan should cover the rest of your debt. make sure you fill out that fafsa form, the free application for federal student aid. if you're going for a second bachelor's degree in pharmacy you won't get any grants. apply for scholarships. most scholarships have no age restriction at all. for finding those, fastweb.com. >> if got another one from a viewer in texas who writes do you have information on exchange traded funds? maybe you can explain what those are. i want to make investments and would like to know if this is the way to go at this point in time. i only have $1,000 to put up. >> reporter: well, you may have heard them called etfs. sometimes people talk about etfs, exchange traded funds. they're mutual funds that trade like stocks and they generally follow a market index like the s&p 500. their costs are lower than

mutual funds, though, because they're not actively managed. there's no mutual fund manager making picks every day. it stwefts in all the talks in the 500 and leaves it at all. think about a broad-based etf. they're not the way to go if you want to invest just a little bit per month. go to morningstar.com to start your research, but they are definitely an interesting place to go because they are so cheap. >> got one more. you got time for one more, gerri? >> reporter: sure. >> this one comes from kip who writes if you transfer your krid card balance to a new card, should you close the old card? i heard that closing your credit cards could hurt your credit score. what's the verdict on this one? >> reporter: kip, kip, kip, we talk about this all the time. closing an unused credit card can hurt your credit scores because it makes your debt load look bigger. keep that card open, you can use it every once in a while. pay it in full when you do use it. that will ensure it continues to benefit your credit scores for

years to come. if you have any questions, send them to me at gerri@cnn.com. tony, i just want to remind you, this weekend, saturday morning, "your bottom line" 9:30 right here on cnn. we've got lots of great things. where the jobs are and how you can land one. plus we're teaming up with consumer reports to put the snuggie, the magic jack to the test. we're going to test them. 9:30 a.m. eastern, "your bottom line" right here on cnn. >> we buy all of those things around here as parting gifts for our friends. it's crazy. we'll be there, we will be there. have a great weekend. >> reporter: you're going to learn some interesting things about those products, i'll tell you. >> thanks. this weekend plan to stay inside, it is just too cold to go out. we will check some of the extreme windchills with our meteorologist jacqui jeras. she's next. that makes our potatoes so special. or maybe the pure water. whatever it is,

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this just in to cnn. we're getting reports from boston's logan international airport that the airport was in fact temporarily closed this morning after a plane was evacuated. here are the details as we know them. a regional delta connection plane at terminal a there at boston's logan international airport aborted takeoff, this taking place about 10:30 a.m., just a short timing ain fact after there was a report of smoke in the cockpit. the plane returned to the gate and the aircraft was then evacuated. officials are telling us that the smell of smoke was due to fumes after the plane was deiced. you know how cold it is in boston. there were 28 people on the plane at the time. no reports of any injuries.

the latest information that we have on boston's logan international airport being closed temporarily after a plane was evacuated because of the smell of smoke in the cockpit. that smoke the result of fumes from the plane being deiced. we will continue to follow any developments that we get as you take a look at the response to that incident at logan international airport in boston. let's check some of our other top stories for you right now. the suspect accused of trying to blow up a u.s. airliner on christmas is due in court today, umar farouk abdulmutallab faces arraignment on six federal charges, among them attempting to murder 229 people on board the -- 289 people on board the detroit-bound plane sglm. a wife is defending her husband's horrific actions. >> translator: in fact i'm proud of my husband. my husband accomplished a very big operation in such a war.

if he is a martyr, may god accept his martyrdom. well, okay. the wind, the cold, the ice, the snow, don't expect it to end any time soon. here is a quick sampling of the severe weather from some of our affiliates. >> reporter: it is cold, it's snowy and it is terrible traveling here in the midwest. >> the wind is picking up, sliding. >> we'll be dealing with windchills tonight between 0 and 15 degrees below 0. while that is more common place up north, here in the memphis area, it's not so common. >> word of the day, my friend, layers, gloves, lots of pants and ugly hats to stay warm here in oklahoma. the bad news is it's going to be this way for several more days. >> let's get you to jacqui jeras now. what do you think of the advice -- that obviously makes all the sense in the world but the idea of staying in the house if you can this weekend. you know, there is a little fun to be had in the cold weather,

you've just got to be safe and bundle it up. >> you do, you have to dress appropriately and that is the key. some of the problem is that the people in the south don't have, you know, those big furry hats or their winter coats. if you're not dressed appropriately, it's certainly dangerous. if you do bundle up, as long as the windchill isn't way down below zero, you could go outside and have a little fun. some people, you know, trying to do that. in the meantime, it's really brutal, though. you might want not to do it for too long. the windchill across the deep south, look at that, feels like 1 degree below 0 in memphis, nashville feels like 3, 6 in atlanta, 18 in charlotte. here's where that cold front is. this is where the arctic air is advancing southward and it's going to make its way through tampa tonight, through miami tonight. highs tomorrow in miami only in the 50s, and we could be breaking a record low on sunday morning when your temperatures are the coldest, around 38 degrees or so. the south is going to continue to stay in this grip of this arctic air as well as the upper

midwest throughout most of the weekend, but we are going to start to see some of those changes coming up ahead as our jetstream pattern starts to advance and we'll watch this ridge, as we call it, begin to move on in so we'll start to get a little bit more sunshine and the warming trend. in fact we're talking about 30 degrees below zero for a windchill in minneapolis at times today. you'll be 20 above come sunday. now, the front you can see right here all the way across the southeast, very little left in terms of precipitation. so we're just dealing with bridges and overpasses and streets that have not been treated properly. take a look at what conditions were like yesterday in gailsburg, illinois, this is from our ireporter john carlson. he was driving from iowa to illinois on i-80 and i-74 and he said it was just horrible. lots of cars in the ditches, but it was actually a beautiful sight, so he stopped in the hyvee parking lot and took those photos for us. it's bad out there for a lot of those travelers, one of which

happens to be our own cnn meteorologist chad myers who is having a hard time getting to work this morning. he's stuck on an icy hill. >> he's stuck? >> he's stuck. >> so you're going to pull a double today? >> perhaps. if you see me next hour, you know why. >> okay, thank you. obviously the weather is one of our big stories. the other big story we aring for is the economy. we are putting job numbers in perspective. weather ahead, push here. if you want to access 10 gigs of music you just downloaded to your hard drive, push here. and if you want to pull away from it all, you can push here. the all-new-40-gig hard drive nav and entertainment system on the 2010 lacrosse. from buick. it's the new class of world class.

we've got a lot to get to here. the job market is, as you know, a big concern and we are talking about it today. the government jobs report for december is out. unemployment is still at 10% and the economy lost 85,000 jobs last month. susan lisovicz joining us now

from the new york stock exchange. susan, some economists were actually predicting we would add jobs. we didn't. >> reporter: no. and that's a disappointment and perhaps a reality check, tony, that this is a recovery but it is a slow one. the patient may be off the respirator but is still in intensive care. you know, this has been a terrible recession. 7.2 million jobs lost. and we did see, you know, a loss of 85,000 at a time when there were some predictions that we would see gains. but look at how far we've come. that chart really explains it. a year ago, tony, looking at losses, nearly 750,000 and job losses were above 500,000 for four straight months between january and april. we've been adding jobs steadily in education, health care, professional services. the bottom line is that more

than 15 million americans are still unemployed. the market's holding up pretty well because it does see some bright spots. the dow right now is off 24 points. that's about a fifth of a percent. the nasdaq is higher by a third of a percent. tony. >> wait a minute. susan, what's the -- explain this disconnect, job losses are slowing down, pretty dramatically, but the unemployment rate hasn't budged. maybe you can help us understand that. >> reporter: i know, it is very frustrating. the fact is 4,000 jobs in november doesn't begin, begin to make a dent into that unemployment rate. we need to see strong job growth in the u.s. we need at least 100,000 jobs per month needed to keep up with population. analysts say we need to start seeing 200,000 jobs added per month. and we're just not seeing it yet. so it's -- you know, three steps

forward, two steps back. it's going to take a while, tony, there's no question about it. >> okay, susan. we'll continue our conversation here. there is more to today's unemployment report than the static 10% jobless rate. let's take a look at a few of the other telltale numbers and what they mean to the fragile economy. my friend, professor danny, teaches at georgia tech. let's put up this graphic that christine romans team put together. a monthly look at job losses for the year 2009. as we talk about the december report, clearly people who do what you do for a living, many of them were suggesting to us that we would see jobs shed at about the 8,000 level. we're talking about 85,000. why did so many people who do what you do for a living get the number wrong? >> they got it wrong, right. >> thank you and good night.

>> because we're economists, that's why. all right. so here's the thing. that number was worse than expected. now, that number has been meandering around zero. meaning we're not creating any new jobs. what we see shaping up is what in -- and you've got to look at another month or two or three but it's shaping up to be a classic growth recession, meaning that we had this following the '82 recession. we're going to grow, but we're not going to grow fast enough to create new jobs. and so that's why you have this really bifurcated picture of the labor market. >> so right now the term of art is a jobless recovery. is that what is going on right now? we saw revised numbers for november showing some job growth, about 4,000. but overall it is beginning to look like a bit of a jobless recovery, at least so far. >> absolutely.

and even, even more troubling than the job loss, that 85,000, is the fact that the overall size of the labor market, we lost 661,000 persons in the labor market. >> just dropped out? >> just dropped out. some discouraged, some dropped out. >> so what is that so-called underemployment number where you talk about the folks who dropped out who were discouraged, the folks who were working part-time that would rather have full-time hours. that figure is 16, 17%? >> slightly above 17%. 17.2%. >> at some point when some of those discouraged workers decide let me put my toe back in the water, we could see the overall employment rate go up a bit, right? >> absolutely. and there were about 68,000 more workers that went over into the category of being discouraged. meaning that they just stopped looking for work over the last month. >> okay. so going forward here, do you agree with the former labor secretary, robert rice, who says we are going to have high unemployment for the next few

years? >> i agree with that. >> tell us why again. i think everyone needs to understand again and again and again why we're in this sort of stagnant jobs economy right now. >> okay. there are a number of things happening. one is we have not found an engine to drive us forward. >> a bubble some would say. >> a bubble, whatever it's called. you know, last time we had internet bubble. we've had other things before that. but we don't have that bubble. the government has really exhausted its ability to continue to carry us forward. >> the stimulus bubble, isn't that the bubble we're hoping will pave the way for us? >> well, it helped. but for the stimulus, where would we be. but that's not enough to carry us forward. >> and even when the jobs come back, according again to the former labor secretary, they are not going to be very good jobs. meaning high-paying jobs. jobs that get a family into the middle class and sustains a family there. do you agree? >> i agree, i agree.

because of the globalization of the economy and we're seeing competition coming from all directions, and so it's not just affecting the bottom tier of the labor market, but all sectors of the labor market. >> so moving forward, what do you see? what's the encouraging sign, if there is one out there? >> well, i think the encouraging sign is that we have an administration that recognizes that we have to make the economy more competitive across the board. now, the challenge is actually putting in place the kinds of policies that would improve education and technology and innovation and those other factors that will allow us to be a first-class economy. >> you mentioned the administration and you have some notes grading the obama administration after essentially the first year in office. we've got a couple of areas, financial stability, fiscal stimulus, consumer and investor confidence, jobs, we've got a professor here who's about to grade the president. i get nervous for him. in the area of financial stability, you're giving -- what

are the grades here? >> all right. financial stability, i'm giving an a. he stabilized the collapse of the financial system, right. the other part of that is where are we now. are we creating more loans. that's the big issue. so i've got an a on stabilizing the system but i give a c plus on generating loans. that's the big problem right now. banks are hording cash, not creating loans. >> fiscal stimulus. >> fiscal stimulus, the right thing to do at the right time in the right amount, right. another a. but on the flip side of that, too much of it it was targeted to large businesses, not enough to small businesses that drive the economy forward. >> let's see, consumer and investor confidence. >> the president gave attention to the economy. in other words, nothing is more important than consumer and investor confidence in the fact that he was attending the ship 24 hours was important. that restored confidence. and so, again, a plus. we complained about too much attention. but on the other hand, some also

complained about the government being too activist. >> jobs. >> jobs. well, we just talked about that. stop this tremendous and mammoth collapse of jobs, so stabilize that. we didn't go into a great depression. but we don't have new jobs being created. >> and what's the overall grade. >> overall i'd give him a b. i give him a b. >> okay. we're going to put that to the test a little bit. i've got a couple of other friends who are economists, you know. good to see you, sir. >> okay. my pleasure. >> we are heading back outside to check on what some of you are experiencing with this extreme weather. look, here's the advice. just bundle up. (announcer) a cold or flu can start fast.

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to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can rest, day and night. feel better, tylenol cold. so obviously there is a real danger of frostbite and hypothermia for people unprepared to cope with this brutal cold sweeping much of the country right now. martin savage has been spending time with an outreach group checking on the homeless. marty is join uing us from st. louis. why don't more people come in out of the cold to the shelters that are available when it is this cold outside? >> reporter: exactly right,

tony. it's the same question that i put to these people last night, the outreach organizations that are trying to look out for the homeless. what they basically say is that there are a lot of people, no matter how deplorable the conditions in which they live, they seem, no matter how basic, no matter how brutal the temperature, it's still home to them. for a lot of those people it's difficult to give up on that home. there are other issues. if you've been to any shelter, you know there's extreme environments and people come from all different walks of life, many with different behavioral patterns. it can be a rough and dangerous place to be. if you've got a family, if you're a woman, many of them avoid the shelters because of those very reasons. that's the reasoning that goes into it. and so these organizations realize there are a lot of people that are sheltering in place, getting away from the public areas like the parks, like here in downtown st. louis, finding places where they are at least warm and what these organizations try to do is make sure, all right, they have got the basic stuff. maybe it's something as simple as just wood to burn. it's enough to keep you alive on

a bitter cold night, tony. >> marty savage for us in st. louis. good to see you, thank you. very quickly we need to get to our top stories. he is accused of trying to blow up a plane with nearly 300 people on board. today suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab is due in court to face charges tied to the failed attack. a federal grand jury indicted abdulmutallab on six counts wednesday. if you missed it, the alabama crimson tide, okay, all right, all right, i didn't expect that, roll tide. the tide topped the texas longhorns 37-21 in last night's bcs national championship game. it is alabama's first national football title since 1992. we've got a tide fan as a producer, obviously. nick saban becomes the first coach to bin bcs -- win bcs titles at two schools, alabama and lsu. hey, ask our doctor about garlique, okay?

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but it can't have... can't have about half a i assure you it does. i was expecting... expecting sawdust and cardboard? i know. i can only taste... only taste the crunchy clusters, honey, and brown sugar. no madam, i don't have esp. ok. i'll take a box, but you probably already knew that. (announcer) fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes. so you know sugary soft drinks really can make you fat. that's the warning on a public service announcement linking soda and obesity. but it is the visual image in the ad that is creating quite a buzz and backlash from the beverage industry. chief medical correspondent dr.

sanjay gupta has details in our fit nation report. >> reporter: it's the latest youtube sensation. it's not a water skiing squirrel or even a dancing baby, but a public service announcement about soda. some viewers may find this revolting, but new york city health commissioner dr. thomas harley says it is starting to get people's attention. >> we have an epidemic of obesity we need to respond to. we want to communicate it in a way that people understand and the visual images are the way that we communicate these days. >> reporter: according to the ad, one soda a day, can add ten pounds to your waistline over the course of a year. and recent research from ucla confirms the link saying one soda per day puts you at 27% increased risk for obesity. >> they're calories people tend not to notice. >> reporter: the american beverage association agrees that the hundreds of calories in sugary drinks can add up, but said there was a better way to educate people.

in a statement posted on its website, the aba says, quote, if the goal is to reduce obesity among new yorkers, then this public education campaign should be based in fact, not simply sensationalized video that's inaccurately portraying our industry's products. products that are fat-free. they go on to say that the companies they represent offer low calorie and no calorie options and that losing weight is as simple as calories in, calories out. he says people have known that for years, but they still don't get the point. >> most people have a positive image of sugar-sweetened beverages, the treat that they have at the end of the day. so we want to drive home the idea these are a risk. >> reporter: with more than 200,000 views on youtube, the video seems to be getting that point across. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> oh, man. starting tomorrow house call becomes sanjay gupta md. he explains why people should be having more sex. that and more on sanjay gupta md saturday and sunday at 7:30 a.m.

eastern time. the man who oversaw the rebuilding of iraq talks about recent terror threats and how to fix the security problems. create your own business site with intuit websites. just choose a style, then customize, publish and get found. sweet. get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com.

you could say a former u.s. diplomat paul bremer has seen his share of terrorism. he is the former state department's counterterrorism chief. he is also former administrator for iraq. bremer is not at all impressed with the handling of terror suspect umar farouk abdulmutallab. he talked with our larry king last night. >> but a terrorist isn't a criminal, though, until a court of law says he is. how do you deal with the balance here between the constitution in all of this? >> these -- this man committed a terrorist attack or tried to

commit a terrorist attack. he could have been rounded up by the military, perfectly legal according to supreme court rulings, and interrogated by professional counterterrorist interrogators for information. counterterrorism intelligence information is highly perishable. you need to know right away where he came from, who made the bomb, where did he get the bomb, what other operations are being planned, by whom, where and when. that kind of information as soon as you treat him as a criminal and he gets a lawyer and abdulmutallab now has a lawyer, obviously you don't get any more and you're left with the rather pathetic counterterrorism policy of a plea bargain with a man who tried to kill 300 americans. it's the wrong approach. making your dreams come true by visualizing them. one new movie producer says it works. "%"%"%"%"%"%"%"%"%"%"%"%"÷

for three years now we've been proud to introduce you to cnn heroes, everyday people who are changing the world. today you will meet our first cnn hero of 2010. her name is winona ward, a trucker turned lawyer in vermont, where 72% of adult homicides are tied to domestic violence, mostly in rural areas. >> when i was growing up on the rural back road, family violence was an accepted way of life. this is my mother, and i'm the baby here. my father and my brother, richard, and my sister colleen. my father would commonly abuse all of us. he raped me and beat my mother and my other siblings. when the neighbors heard screaming coming from our home, they just turned their heads.

for domestic violence victims in rural areas, it can be very devastating. they're out there on these back roads with no access to in-town services. many of them do not have telephones. some of them do not have driver's license for an automobile, so we go to them. my name is winona ward. the turning point for me was when a child in my family revealed that she had been abused by my father and my brother. i just said, this has to stop. when i graduated from law school, i was 48 years old. good morning, my dear. i go to people's homes, give them in-home consultation, provide them with free legal services and transportation to and from courtrooms. i don't want children to have to go through what i did as a child. i want to see my clients become empowered. i can understand them, and they

know that i will be there to protect them. >> she has helped nearly 10,000 victim of domestic violence and she drives 30,000 miles a year doing it. to see an inspiring story, really uplifting, of one woman she's helped or to nominate someone who you think is changing the world, just go to cnn.com/heroes. and here's what we're working on for the next hour of "cnn newsroom" -- are you looking for a job? you may want to talk to the government. it is hiring 1.5 million people to help count everyone in america. just be sure to wear comfortable shoes. also from orangtans, the cold is takes its toll, we'll take a look at creature comforts in the next hour of "cnn newsroom." anncr vo: ...call emergency services... anncr vo: ...collect accident information. anncr vo: or just watch some fun videos.

anncvo: it's so easy, a caveman can do it. caveman: unbelievable... caveman: where's my coat? it was suede with the fringe. vo: download the glovebox app free at geico.com. we're on the verge of historic reform, a major step forward for america. let's make sure the health care bill is as strong as possible. under the house plan, we'll be offered good coverage at work. and we won't pay a tax on our health benefits. if you're self-employed or between jobs,

you'll be able to afford insurance. and you can keep the benefits you have now. we're at the finish line, tell the president and congress, choose wisely, get it right for us. some people say it's the rich, world's bvolcanic soilcome from. that makes our potatoes so special. or maybe the pure water. whatever it is, idaho potatoes are a delicious part of a healthy diet. with zero fat or cholesterol, and only 110 calories, and they taste great. a great value, only about ¢.25 each. always look for the grown in idaho seal. genuine idaho potatoes, from the best earth on earth.

got to tell you, the woman you're about to meet has gone from meager to mobile in a remarkably short time, and by the way, the way she did it, could be a hollywood movie script. cnn's brooke anderson has the story. >> what do we have here? a stack of scripts. >> oh, yes. >> this is a small amount of the scripts that i receive every day. >> reporter: she is hollywood's newest mover and shaker. >> i'm the executive producer of two movies already. >> reporter: her name cynthia staffer, although she also goes by a royal title. what do some of the people call you, miss cynthia, at the

company? >> well, they call me the queen. >> reporter: of course. i bet they do. she recently launched her own company and a film development fund. last month, hollywood power brokers turned out for a party to welcome her into the fold. >> it was really like a little overwhelming. >> reporter: just two years ago, stafford had nothing to do with the entertainment industry. she was in tough financial shape, in danger of losing her home, and she was raising four of her brother's children after he was killed by a drunk driver. >> i lost my brother in '99. i was really close to him. >> reporter: what happened next is a twist worthy of a hollywood script? stafford says she began visualizing a way to better her life. she decided, winning the lottery would do it. the figure of $112 million came to her mind. >> i wrote the number down as i'm going to sleep or wake up, i would look at the number, and i would say, i'm going to get that, i'm going to achieve that. >> reporter: stafford kept an

eye on the mega millions jackpot. when it hit $112 million, she bought a ticket. and then it happened? >> i won $112 million. we won on the $2 ticket. >> reporter: stop. >> $2. >> reporter: since then stafford has beaut a house in an exclusive l.a. enclave. >> hi, skids. >> reporter: her brother's kids whom she adopted live with her. she can afford the best in life, but she still appreciates a bargain. >> and i see a bed bath & beyond coupon and i use those as well. that's why it's sitting here. oh, yeah, i want to go. 20% off. >> reporter: 20% off. a longstanding love of the arts inspired her to donate $1 million to a playhouse and to start a movie production company. she said she's got several films in the pipeline. >> all of our scripts are pretty much attached with famous stars and directors. >> reporter: she wants her films to have a positive message. her message to others,

visualization really does work. >> it's the advice i would give to other people is just to believe the end result, by you want to see it happen, and it will happen. >> reporter: a what's she visualizing four herself now? hollywood success of oprahlike dimensions. >> in five to ten years, i see myself as a mogul, and hopefully even before that. >> reporter: brooke anderson, cnn, los angeles. and time now for your "top of the hour" reset. i'm tony harris in the "cnn newsroom." it is noon in detroit, where the young nigerian charged in the plane bomb plot goes to court in two hours. across america new unemployment numbers in december, just as the jobless get a boost from the 2010 census. >> and in miami the arctic blast is bringing the zoo animals down. don't worry, the iguanas are just in a cold-blooded stupor! they're not dead. all right, let's get started. he is accused of trying to blow a u.s. airliner out of the sky

over detroit. today, terror suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab goes to court to face charges in the christmas day plot. cnn's deborah feyerick is at the federal courthouse in detroit where the arraignment is just about two hours away. and, deb, security is a big concern for many who think it is a bad idea to try this man in federal court. talk about the security at the courthouse. >> reporter: well, tony, first, we do want to tell you about an hour ago there was a flurry of activity. a number going into the courthouse. we're still waiting for confirmation as to whether abdulmutallab has indeed arrived. he was at a facility about 45 minutes from here. we were expecting him about that time, but we are still waiting for an official confirmation, we believe he is in the building. as for security, it is very tight. there are barricades set up outside the federal courthouse. just outside, the fbi has set up a viewing state to keep an eye on the courthouse, it was put in place 25 minutes ago. there's been a lot of discussion, do you do it in a

civil court? do you do it as sort of an enemy combatant? jose padilla who was sort of the closest person to get that obviously label and then to go through the process, he was tried in a civilian court, and he was convicted, so while there's a history, of sort of putting them within the frame of an enemy combatant, there's been no cases actually successfully tried as far as that goes. all of them have been in federal court, so they believe this is exactly the place to be doing it, tony? >> deb, any sign of the suspect's family? >> reporter: no. and that is really the outstanding question. whether they're going to come here. the father, it's interesting, the dynamics between the father and the son. the father knew that his son was going down a bad path. so, he threatened to cut his son off. his son wanted to go to sky row and saudi arabia where there's a huge sort of militancy to study there, the father said, no,

you're not going to go there. he went to dubai, instead. so, it does appear the family was involved in keeping an eye on him, trying to keep him on the right course. unclear when exactly he became radicalized. whether it was during his time in london, when he was at university there. it's interesting, because he graduated in june of 2008, and just before leaving london, he applied for a multiple entry u.s. visa, so all of that is under investigation right now, tony? >> okay, deborah feyerick for us in detroit, just outside of detroit federal court. deb, thank you. president obama calls for tighter airport security and better intelligence methods to prevent future terrorist attacks. the president released a declassified report on the missteps surrounding the attempted bombing on christmas day. >> the u.s. government had the information scattered throughout the system to potentially uncover this plot and disrupt the attack. rather than a failure to collect or share intelligence, this was a failure to connect and

understand the intelligence that we already had. i am less interested in passing out blame than i am in learning from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer. for ultimately the buck stops with me. >> and here are some key points on how security will be beefed up. the government will deploy another 300 full-body scanners at u.s. airports this year. right now there are only 40 scattered around the country. also in the works, bomb-sniffing dogs, more metal detectors and more technology to detect explosives. and the security enhancements will also be felt on board the airlines. hundreds of law enforcement officers will be trained as federal air marshals. the unemployment rate didn't budge in december. it remains at 10%. the labor department says companies cut 85,000 jobs last month, 10 times the number analysts predicted. that said, the november report was revised to show the economy actually created 4,000 jobs. much of the nation still coping with bone-chilling temperatures reaching into the deep south.

ice and snow creating a travel nightmare at airports and on the roads. this morning,27 three people. brutal winds, ripped -- and chills on the east armies of snowplows, salt trucks, have been deployed across the country, but some cities have dodged the snow front anyway, chicago being one of them. let's go there live now. jessica gomez is there for us. jessica, good to see you. now, i've got to ask you, since snowfall was less than expected for chicago, has the city been able to sort of clear the streets and get things back to normal? >> reporter: yes. yeah, things are actually looking pretty good. a lot better than was expected. the snow tapering off earlier this morning and here on michigan avenue in downtown chicago, as you can see, traffic is moving along pretty well, pretty steady. all in all, about 4 to 8 inches fell in the chicago area, still less than predicted. some lake-effect snow still

coming southeast of chicago in northwest indiana. the city's full suite of salt trucks are out on the roads clearing things up. the travel times yesterday about an hour above normal. today's morning commute, slow, but not bad and the major thoroughfares have been cleaned up and the crews are concentrate opening the side roads, which are still slick. the big story now becomes the biting cold that is on the way. temperatures right now are in the 20s, but it feels a lot colder with those windchills. and tonight's low, expected to be around zero. tony? >> okay, miss jessica gomez, so the streets are pretty good. how about the airports? >> reporter: airports are looking pretty good, both chicago o'hare and midway airports are reporting slight delays and cancellations but nothing like what we saw yesterday where there were hundreds of cancellations. >> all right, jessica, get back to us when there's some problems in chicago. things are looking pretty good. jessica gomez for us in chicago. more severe weather coverage straight ahead. our chad myers is gathering the

latest information on strong winds and intense windchills paralyzing parts of the u.s., and we'll talk to chad in just a couple of minutes. this is a honda pilot. and this is the chevy traverse. it has more cargo space than pilot. including the most space behind the third row. and traverse beats honda on highway gas mileage too. more fuel efficient and 30% more room.

maybe traverse can carry that stuff too. the chevy traverse. amer. compare us to anyone and . okay, so, so, so, so, our "random moment of the day" adds up to big money. richard and mary morrison claimed the $165 million mega millions jackpot. but, wait, before they cashed that check, suffolk county, new york, wants nearly $1 million of it. officials say the morris' business overbilled the county. well, that ruined an otherwise lovely lottery moment. >> that is not about the check presentation. moving on to the check presentation. >> check presentation. >> whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second. the money is in escrow until a court decides. in the meantime, the morrisons

are going ahead with the big, splashy wedding they couldn't afford years ago.

to chad myers now in the severe weather center, and, chad, obviously, a lot of folks under a winter weather watch today. >> yeah. >> to be sure. >> yeah, it's the driving issue now, tony. >> yeah. >> and i was -- i was late today. >> oh, yeah. >> i was late trying to be a good samaritan today, people literally don't know what to do. it's a learned event. you can't tell somebody how to drive on ice if they've never done it. >> yeah. >> you tell somebody to take their foot off the brake and they go what? why would i do that? no, yeah, you have to take your

foot off the brake if you want the car to turn. so, i found this quite amusing i-report here from tennessee. if you see ruts like this and they're shiny back there, don't drive on that shiny part. find the snow, because the snow still has a little bit of traction. the problem is all these cars are waiting to go down the hill because these cars here they can't get up the hill. so as soon as this little gmc moves a little bit, look out, look out, look out, you're going backwards and now you're playing beltway bumper cars, and eventually you'll see some guy in a 4runner, he'll drive up the grass and all the way over he comes, he didn't take the road at all, he took the grass. >> which is a little bit smarter. >> except the guy in the spring looks at his grass and there's two ruts in them. be careful out there. the brake is not your friend even with the anti-lock braking systems, or as we like to call it back in detroit, the anti-braking system. 24 below in fargo, 24 below in

bismarck. the numbers here are more significant because the people and the buildings are less prepared for windchills like that, birmingham, mobile at 22. watch the bowl game down in mobile. everybody was bundled up like they were in michigan. frigid air for today still in the plains, but there is some good news, the jet stream begins to slide off to the east, and when that's going to happen, that's going to allow the ridge and the sun to warm things up. so, it will be less cold here on monday. it will actually be more cold here on monday, just because of the way the jet stream flies off to the east. one more thing i wanted to show you, too, this could get significant tonight. i know it's a very small area. i'll zoom right into it. here's chicago, gary, indiana, la porte, we are getting this streamer bandz of very heavy lake-effect snow, if you are on the interstate east or west out of chicago, or east out of la porte and elkhart, you would actually see this band of snow

in front of you, it may only be five miles wide, but that is a blinding area of lake-effect snow right there in the eastern part of chicagoland. the highs for chicago, 25, minneapolis, 7, kansas city will be 5. windchills all across the country fairly cool. but look at that, 25 in new york seems like a heat wave compared to 6 in atlanta. the wind is finally out of orlando. but the front is just to your north. look, 6 and 60. 54 degrees as you drive down i-75. that's because the front is right there. it slides to the south tonight. and orlando and miami for tomorrow get colder, again. it really depends where you are and where the front is and how well you like to do it. so, tony, i'll try to bring up some weather tips and driving tips. i can talk until i'm blue in the face, you know, don't put the brakes on when you see that it's ice. stop before the ice. >> yeah. >> or slow down before the ice, and let the car just kind of coast. here's some pictures here i want to show you, a couple of buses in omaha and a big thing -- i think it was hickory, north carolina, which was a

five-foot-tall -- >> look at that. >> yeah, that's not good. you're going to have -- you're going to have to warm that car up a long time. that's in nebraska. look at that. i grew up about ten miles from there in millard, so that's how i got my driving skills. you wreck a few cars by putting your foot on the brake, you learn not to do that anymore. >> good stuff, chad. >> oh, yeah, tony, we'll talk to you later. >> thank you, sir. >> all right. you know, it's not only humans shivering and running for shelter in these deep freeze, cnn's john zarella reports from florida, the apes are bundling up, and the turtles are slower than ever, and the iguanas, well -- >> reporter: just throw me a blanket, will you? even with all that hair, bony, the orangutan, wasted no time wrapping up against the cold at miami's metro zoo. her buddy mango, sipped on a couple of hot chocolate. vet approved. the tortoises, well, they're not too swift with their feet or their brains. >> we have to take actually plywood and lock them in there,

because they're not bright enough to stay in there, they will go out and freeze and they'll be stopped frozen and that's it. >> reporter: in florida the animals are no more used to this kind of cold than people. zoos are doing what they can to provide creature comforts. space heaters for the parrots and the komodo dragons, boxes for the primates. this little guy shut his own door. don't ever say dumb animals. for beekeepers in tallahassee, where the temperature has been in the teens, the only hope? save the queen. >> as long as the queen and some of the bees make it through the winter, then we're fine. >> reporter: no, you're wrong. that's not protozoa under a microscope, they are manatees, 300 of them. the heating system at a power plant was turned on to warm the waters for them. sea turtles lethargic and stunned by the cold are being rescued and brought to marine life sanctuaries. nearly 100 so far. now, to be honest there are some

animals here in florida that just don't get and won't get any love. so, how do you feel about rats? maybe a foot long? they're not crazy about the cold either. well, they're scrambling and slithering and squeezing their way into nice, warm homes. >> the kind of rat that should be in new york. it shouldn't be in florida, and it certainly shouldn't be in my apartment with my kids. >> reporter: and then there are the iguanas, invasive species overrunning south florida. the cold weather puts them literally in a state of suspended animation. not good when you live in a tree. florida's version of groundhog day. when the iguana falls out of the tree, six more weeks of winter. john zarella, cnn, miami. >> oh, man! still to come in the "newsroom" -- a down economy, high unemployment, yet hundreds of thousands of jobs. hundreds of thousands are jobs are going unfilled.

you know, we keep hearing there aren't enough jobs. well, it turns out there are, oh, let me hang on forejust a second here. good. good. good. all right, we keep hearing that there aren't a lot of good jobs. so, come to find out, there are plenty of good, blue-collar jobs for the taking. but as cnn's carol costello shows us, many young folks hesitate to take them. ♪ >> reporter: in the '80s movie "flash dance" alexander owens can't wait to leave blue-collar work behind. ♪ what a feeling >> reporter: it wasn't long before she said good-bye welding torch, hello, fame! yes, old fiction, but it neatly sums up where we are today. kim barbano graduated from the university of miami with a degree in public relations in 2008. she has yet to find a job. and even though she's struggling economically, the thought of taking this time to learn a trade is incomprehensible.

>> and if there's some kind of negative connotation to it? >> i think there is a lot of pressure to go to college and to get the typical day job, and that isn't the working with your hands field. >> reporter: let's face it, there is little real passion for becoming electricians, manufacturing engineers, high-tech welders, plumbers, or custom construction workers, even in this economy. >> there are still hundreds of thousands of jobs in the manufacturing, but unfortunately, the people that are looking for jobs don't necessarily have the skills necessary to get into this field now. >> reporter: according to a 2009 study by deloitte and the manufacturing institute, manufacturing topped the list of seven key industries as most important to the u.s. economy. yet only 17% of young americans desire a job in manufacturing. and only 30% of parents said they'd encourage their kids to learn a trade. >> i had to fabricate some brackets here. >> reporter: matthew crawford

who has a ph.d. in political philosophy proudly works with his hands. he's saddened by that attitude and has written a book about it. "shop class as soul craft, an inquiry into the value of work." >> i think we've developed this kind of idea if the work is dirty, it must be stupid. >> reporter: crawford says working with your hands and using your brain to create something, then seeing the finished product, can be much more satisfying than a life behind a desk. and, yeah, it can pay more, too. >> i think we've developed a kind of one-track educational system, where just about every kid gets pressured to go to college. and i think the truth is that some people, including some who are plenty smart, would rather be learning to build things or fix things. >> reporter: the challenge for the skilled labor industry is to change that perception. and to get people to run to blue-collar jobs instead of away from them. ♪ what a feeling

>> the manufacturing industry is working hard to convince young people to become skilled workers. they're recruiting kids in junior high school. they've convinced community colleges to offer courses in things like electrical engineering, and there is even a camp for kids who are interested in working with both their brains and their hands. carol costello, cnn, washington. there are lots of growing fields you should know about, personal finance editor, gerri willis, joins us in just a couple of minutes to let you know where the job actually are. let's get you caught up on our top stories now. bitter temperatures from the north deep into the south. weather forecasters say it's the worst cold snap for 15 years for most states east of the rockies. ice is shutting down roads and causing flight cancellations in some cities including chicago and atlanta. the mother of the suicide bomber who killed seven cia officers in afghanistan describes him as a loner since childhood. he was a jordanian doctor, recruited as a current terrorism intelligence source.

his wife said she was shocked to hear what he had done, but proud of her husband's suicide mission. >> translator: in fact, i'm proud of my husband. my husband accomplished a very big operation in such a war. if he is a martyr, may god accept his martyrdom. jordanian officials say they thought he had been rehabilitated from his extremist views, and he was being used to hunt down al qaeda's number two. >> gay rights advocates are vowing to fight back through the courts after the new jersey state senate voted down a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. right now five states recognize gay marriage. connecticut, iowa, massachusetts, new hampshire, and vermont. we will get another check of our top stories in 20 minutes.

so, the push is on to add 300 full-body scanners at airports across the country, but are the scanners really a full-body health hazard? our chief medical, dr. sanjay gupta, takes a look. >> well, there are a lot of questions about these type of technologies in airports. we're already starting to see them, and the question that everybody seems to be asking, you know, is how safe are they, and how much radiation do they actually emit? so, let me go through two of the machines that will become the most common that we're hearing. first of all, this is the millimeter wave technology. take a look at that type of machine. it's pretty expensive, about $150,000 to $175,000, which is part of the reason we may not see as many of these because of the cost. but this really uses what's known as radio waves. you're actually using radio waves to generate an image. think of this more like an ultrasound rather than an x-ray machine. and in terms of the amount of energy it delivers, about 10,000 times less than even a cell

phone. very little energy there. this is probably the one that will be more common. this is called the backscatter technology. these are the type of images it generates. that's what the machine looks like. what happens here is you do have radiation, but the way the machine is designed is to actually take the radiation and bounce it off the scan and then create an image on the other side. so, you're not actually penetrating the skin with this type of radiation. they say it would take about 125,000 trips through one of these machines in a year to hit the acceptable safety level, so they both seem pretty safe. both of these should be distinguished from regular x-rays. this is what we're used to seeing. this is an x-ray of a bone implant, a hip implant. this is ionizing radiation and it does penetrate the skin and that's how you get the images. still there are a lot of people that will be concerned about this. the tsa has told us you can still decide to opt out, not go through either machine, young children and pregnant women, if you are concerned about it. but based on the radiation and

energy levels, they seem pretty safe. back to you. >> all right, sanjay, appreciate it. and be sure to tune in this weekend for the premiere episode of sanjay's new pram, "sanjay gupta md," that is saturday and sunday, 7:30 a.m. eastern time. they don't want to come in, so he goes to them. a minister care fors for the homeless. welcome to idaho, where the world's best potatoes come from. some people say it's the rich, volcanic soil that makes our potatoes so special. or maybe the pure water. whatever it is, idaho potatoes are a delicious part of a healthy diet.

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new capzasin quick relief gel. (announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis. got to tell you, much of the nation is in the grips of a deep freeze. forecasters say we could see some relief sunday. until then, really, bundle up. take a look at these school buses in nebraska. chad myers showed us these pictures a short time ago. had to show them to you again. some cities report highways leading in and out of town are blocked by ice and snow. the cold has cut like a knife into the gulf coast of florida.

the freezing weather isn't just slowing or stopping traffic, it is also a big problem, as you can imagine, for fruit crops and check out all the transformers exploding in oklahoma city. any sound on that? that is crazy. strong winds ripped out power lines in parts of oklahoma. there's a real danger for frostbite and hypothermia incapable of dealing with the cold snap. the homeless are especially vulnerable. martin savidge reports on a group helping the homeless. >> reporter: darkness falls in st. louis and with it the temperature. >> blowing snow as well, the windchill index 5 below downtown at the arch. >> reporter: and at the new life evangelistic shelter, the homeless have showed up for the night. despite the cold there are some that have refused to come in. they're the ones larry rice wants to find. do you try to bring them in or do you try to look after them in place? >> we often look after them in

place, letting them know that we have a place available that they can come. but as meager as their belongings may be and their place may be, that's still home. >> reporter: the first stop is an abandoned home. >> we have to check on the people regularly, okay? >> reporter: that's not abandoned at all. >> how are you doing? >> good. how are you all doing? staying warm? >> reporter: inside we find a community of young people, in their teens and 20s. >> hello, i have a new coat. can you use a sleeping bag? >> reporter: thanks to roaring fires and gas heaters, it's warm. for susan fanter, it's heaven compared to the street. how many people are in the house here? >> wow, 15, 20. i never count. >> reporter: at the next stop, we realize susan was right about the heaven part. this is where she was living, in a tent. in a tunnel. >> hello! >> larry? >> larry rice. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: and as the temperature heads towards zero, we find others still here. what do you do to stay warm? >> my lantern.

>> reporter: that lantern is used for heat? >> yeah. when i have fuel for it. >> reporter: next door, the tent has no ceiling. why don't you go to a shelter? >> we'd prefer to stay out here. we don't like to be around a whole bunch of different people that we don't know. we're kind of like a small group of people that get along. >> reporter: a small group of people living in the stone age, just beneath the modern american city. surviving a night so cold it could kill. by the way, this frigid january marks the 38th year that reverend rice has been preaching and reaching out to those who are homeless here in the city of st. louis. and as you can tell in this weather, tony, he has not just saving souls, he's probably saving lives. >> hey, you're right about that. marty, 11:30 a.m. in st. louis right now. has it warmed up at all? >> reporter: i think it has. i think we might be up around 9 degrees, which the problem is, though, the wind. you can't see it, but the wind is blowing fairly steadily here,

and that means that tonight there's going to be another windchill warning, and as a result of that, that means that the temperatures probably going to feel like 10 to 15 degrees below zero. it's going to be colder tonight than it actually was last night. the patrols that you saw, those that look after the people who are living away from the shelters, they're going to be out in force again tonight. so far, no reports of any fatalities, in fact, no reports of anyone having to go to the hospital, at least according to the emergency operations center, but i'm tearing up just because it's very cold. >> 9 degrees, that has to feel like no warm-up at all. marty, good to see you, martin savidge for us in st. louis. >> reporter: thank you. and let's get to chad myers now, and, chad, how do you -- i guess at some point you figure out how to do it, but 9 degrees? >> right. >> colder tonight? >> and i would tell you, if you kept marty talking for another five minutes, his mouth would start to talk like this. >> yeah. >> all of a sudden, you lose -- >> yeah, yeah, yeah. >> -- all control of the muscles

because they don't want to move in your moith anymore. that's the amount of time you have to be very careful. this isn't an osha issue, but if you're working outside, you have to realize it might take a couple hours to get warmed back up when you get back home tonight. >> yes. >> don't try to do it in 140-degree bathtub, very, very bad idea. stay inside. warm up naturally and slowly. you know, think about these baggage handlers. look at all those planes, tony. 5,000 planes in the sky. how many baggage handlers do you think are outside working the gate and the tugs in all these? there must be 50,000 people out there right now just working on these planes, making sure they're all taking off with your bags and not leaving without them and so on and so on and so forth. minneapolis right now, the high today will be 7. kansas city will be 5. memphis will be 25. that's warmer than you've been for the past couple of days, but that doesn't spell what the wind is actually doing. and that's always the key. and i've heard a lot about the homeless today, and i also wanted to really re-emphasize how important it is to take care of the pets.

>> right. >> the pets cannot take care of themselves. they cannot be outside, chained up to a tree in the wind. you must take care of them. they are depending on you. they are 24/7 in your care. >> yep. >> so, please, take care of them. nashville at 6. memphis at 5. birmingham at 5 and atlanta, 6. that's the air feels-like temperature. jacksonville breaking a record this morning, and even qs breaking a record. but the good news, the air does slide out. we everybody watching the jet stream all week long. going to let this run for a while. we've been watching it go all the way up into alaska. in fact, fairbanks was 22 yesterday morning. atlanta was 18. and then it comes back down here and allows all that cold air to come straight down. that's going to change. that cold air's going to be shuntsed off to the east. so, actually, the east coast will get colder where the midwest where it's been the worst will warm up a little bit. so, it just depends where you are. you know, we're saying it's going to warm up, not over here. >> yeah, yeah. by monday. >> yeah. >> got to get through the weekend. chad, appreciate it.

thank you, sir. new unemployment numbers show more americans lost their jobs last month. personal finance editor, gerri willis, there she is, gives us news we can use and tells us which sectors are actually hiring.

the nation's unemployment rate stood still really at 10% in december. today's laker department report also showed the economy didn't lose jobs as we initially thought in november. it created 4,000. where are those jobs, our personal finance editor, gerri willis, is back. gerri, good to see you again. which sectors are actually hiring right now? >> we know that health care sector, engineering, technology, they're all hiring, but we

wanted to get a list for the top job growth for the next decade and here's what the labor department told us. biomedical engineering, it's the highest-demand job in the country. 74% more engineers will be hired. home health aide will be up 50% in the same time%. athletic trainers up 37%, and vets, believe it or not, are going to be up 33%. now, financial category here, personal finance advisors, up 30%. now, what's interesting about this list is that the best jobs require more education. among the 30 fastest-growing okay passions, according to the labor department, almost half of those jobs will require at least a bachelor's degree. and among those jobs that are expected to decline the most, tony, telemarketer and postal workers. >> yeah. i mean, the u.s. postal service is fighting for survival right now. how can a candidate -- >> absolutely. >> -- gerri, stand out in this kind of economic environment? >> well, a-number one, you got

to get smart about your resume. tailor it to the job that you are looking for. they do a sort on the resume, if you have the language, you tell the company you know what you're doing as a job candidate. get together with other folks. don't sit on the couch. go to meetup.com, that website has a way of hooking up with local groups that have the same interests you do, the same jobs that you want to have, and i have a piece of good advice here, a good piece of information for people that are worried about getting the job in the next six months next year, next week, according to a survey by yahoo! one in three hiring managers say they will do more hiring this year. so, there's going to be some hiring going on and talent will get a new job, so i think we're all looking forward to that day, right, tony? >> got to hang in there. be proactive and hang in there. all right, gerri, appreciate it. have a nice weekend.

checking the top stories. a suspect accused of trying to blow up the u.s. airliner on christmas day, umar farouk abdulmutallab faces arraignment on six federal charges among them murders the 289 people on bord the detroit-bound plane. the arctic weather has people shivering from minneapolis to miami today. the upper midwest will fall into the minus 20s tonight. south florida could see rare 30s this weekend. light snow is on the ground as far south as atlanta and birmingham. nbc may move jay leno back to his old time sloot. have you been following this story? his 10:00 ratings have cut into nbc affiliates' revenue for their late newscasts. leno ribbed the network for tinkering with the top-rated "tonight show" which is now number two. >> as you may have heard, there's a rumor floating around we were canceled. i heard it coming in this morning on the radio. so far, nobody said anything to me. but, 67, if we do get canceled,

give us some time to do traveling. >> that would be wonderful. >> as i understand it, fox is beautiful this time of year. >> it really is. >> hey, kev, what does nbc stand for? >> what's that? >> never believe your contract. >> under one scenario len wo would get a half hour at 11:30, followed by the tonight show with conan o'brien. okay. secure community, the new homeland security program takes a closer look at illegal immigrants in an effort to get dangerous criminals off u.s. streets. cnn's rafael romo has more. >> reporter: he has been in the united states illegally for at least three years. even though he's been convicted of 12 charges including battery on a law enforcement officer and cocaine possession, the 32-year-old was never deported because he lied about his status. he was only identified thanks to a new homeland security program. this machine here is going to connect you immediately with the fbi and the department of homeland security right away. >> yes.

it is. >> reporter: in gwinnett county, georgia, captain john spear oversees the new program called secure communities which checks a suspect's fingerprints against federal databases. >> what we're introducing to the process is the digital exchange of the fingerprints so that we can run the databases not only with the fbi but at the department of homeland security for immigration purposes in a matter of minutes, and get them back to the law enforcement officials. >> reporter: but immigrant rights activists say the program targets migrants unfairly. >> it's open season for latinos in georgia. >> reporter: jerry gonzalez says the program takes away local law enforcement's flexibility to decide whose fingerprints are run, socially reporting everyone to i.c.e., even people with minor offenses are or extenuating circumstances. homeland security secretary, napolitano poljanet napolitano, one of her department's priorities is removal of illegal aliens who have committed

serious crimes. >> they're deporting people for minor traffic violations. that's outside the scope of what napolitano wants to accomplish. >> reporter: the department of homeland security insists its focus is on capturing the most dangerous criminals here illegally. >> secure communities is all about the public safety. and it's all about trying to identify for removal from this country serious criminal offenders in local communities. >> reporter: he habitually drove without a license and used 15 aliases in georgia and florida was charged thanks to the program and will be deported to his native country, after serving his sentence. so, to those who have fears about racial profiling wrack what would be your response? >> don't break the law. if you're not in kuddy, you're not going -- you're not going to be checked. >> reporter: so far the program is available in 108 counties throughout the nation. and gwinnett county, georgia, it started last october. officials at the department of homeland security say their hope is that it will be available throughout the country by 2013,

but congress would have to approve significant resources for the security communities program to continue. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. and as the bitter cold weather grips most of the country, some people are getting help with their energy bills, but is money running out? we will show you how to get help while it is still available. yes, i hear progressive has lots of discounts on car insurance. can i get in on that? are you a safe driver? yes. discount! do you own a home? yes. discount! are you going to buy online? yes! discount! isn't getting discounts great? yes! there's no discount for agreeing with me. yeah, i got carried away. happens to me all the time. helping you save money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. ies who need assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little or no cost to you. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your

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checking out cnnmoney.com right now, top story, let's see, the detroit auto show starts next week, and the lead story says "detroit auto show gets turbo charged." where are my glasses here? i need a bigger font. auto show forecast, cloudy with patches of snow. okay, cnnmoney.com, if you want the latest financial news and analysis. let's get you to the big board now, new york stock exchange, better than three hours into the trading day, and we're down. we've been down most of the day. down 23 points. the nasdaq is up. so, a mixed day. the nasdaq is up nine. following these numbers with susan lisovicz throughout -- thank you, chad! throughout the day, right here in the "cnn newsroom." as freezing temperatures -- thank you, sir. blanket much of the country, more americans are getting help paying their heating bills, and, boy, we could all use some help, really. but the need for assistance just keeps growing.

stephanie elam has our "energy fix." she's in new york. good to see you, miss stephanie. >> do i need to yell, too, so you can hear me tony or speak cloudy something to go along with the glasses? >> you are mean with that! good to see you. >> you're the one with all the antics. despite the energy prices the economic downturn are forcing a lot of americans to seek help paying their heating bills. it's a true problem here. nearly 8 million american households got help in fiscal 2009, that was a record number, and a 33% jump from 2008. and now applications are flooding in for the current fiscal year which actually started in october. the national energy assistance directors association predicts a 20% jump in the number of families seeking help. more than $5 billion has been set aside for heating assistance this year, but the association is worried that's not going to be enough, so it's planning to ask congress for another $2.5 billion if applications keep pouring in.

otherwise, it warns assistance actually may be cut, tony. >> huh? oh, so stephanie -- see, when it comes back to you? >> oh, you can't hear. >> yes, but i can hear, too. so, how can people really actually need help paying their bills get it, and at least while it is still available? we need that information. >> right. you're right. the low-income heating energy assistance program is federally funded, but here's the thing, it's run by the states. so, to get help you can call this toll-free number, show it on the screen for you, it's 1-866-674-6327. you can also send an e-mail to energy@ncat.org. they'll refer you to your state agency. and keep in mind that eligibility is actually based on income. the ma jormt of families receiving this assistance make less than $25,000 a year, but many states have raised the ceiling so families making more can qualify. and, remember, this is not the only way you can find help out there. if you think you cannot pay your

bills, call your utility company. many companies are willing to work out a payment plan with you, so that's something to keep in mind as well. of course, for more energy fixes, check out cnnmoney.com, and you can also follow cnnmoney on twitter, tony. >> again, having a little funnel here, because i can't see. but, again, all that information is at cnnmoney.com? >> that is correct. you can find it at cnnmoney.com. >> all right, thank you, stephanie. still to come -- in with the new. and what to do with the old gadgets? a look at what's hot at the consumer electronics show this year. our arthritis pain relief. but you could end up taking twice as many pills... compared to aleve. choose aleve, it just makes sense. just two aleve have the strength to relieve arthritis pain all day.

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let's get you to the daily white house briefing with white house spokesman, robert gibbs. >> -- remind you backwards, but, again, in december the president outlined some very specific examples of exactly what he'd like to see, today's program being one of those examples. investment in small businesses for additional hiring, infrastructure spending, things like that. so, i think the president has -- has been quite clear on that. look, we have, you know, today's -- today's jobs report is obviously disappointing. 85,000 people last month lost their jobs. we are in a very tough economic environment.

since this recession officially began more than two years ago, 7 million jobs have been lost. i honestly doubt, jeff, that had a report showed, you know, 40 -- or 20,000 or so jobs created, i can't imagine that the president would say, well, what i thought we should do in december is now wiped away because of the jobs report. we've got a long way to go. and as we talked about this last month, and i think if you look back as we've talked about it each month, we knew this was going to be a long road. and we knew that along that road there would be ups and downs and bumps along the way. i think if you look through and analyze some of the numbers, there are some bright spots, which i think are at least

encouraging. understanding that there are, as i said, millions of people that have lost their jobs and are hurting. if you take the average of what we were losing in the first quarter of 2009, january, february, and march, we were losing on average in those months 691,000 jobs a month. if you take the average of what we're losing the last three months of the year, october, november, and december, that number is 69,000. one-tenth of that job loss. so, that trend, obviously, is moving in the right direction. but, again, if that number was above the ledger on the positive side, i doubt you'd find anybody in this administration, because i doubt you'd find anybody in this country that believed our economic problems had vanished. >> you know, trends, is the president worried about gasoline getting closer to $3? how that will affect the economy? >> well, obviously, anything

that is perceived or believed that will do damage to our economy or choke off some positive trends in economic recovery would be concerning for the president, yeah. jake? >> economists like stieglitz are worried about the double-dip recession, how is the president worried is the president about it? >> i think he's worried now and in the future. >> does he think it's likely? >> i think the president wakes up every day about where this economy is, understands that millions are hurting, whether they are in last month's job losses or the job losses stretching past those two years since this recession officially began. but understand, jake, people

were hurting long before a board said there was a recession in this country. >> right. but obviously you plan differently if you expect, you know, another contraction of the economy coming up as opposed to the line that we're on right now. >> but i also think that the president, again, i refer you back to what the president talked about in december. not being satisfied with where we were and wanting to change that -- the direction of that line. >> so, he is preparing as if there was going to be a contraction, he is -- >> no, no. >> you're not saying that? >> he's not an economic prognosticator. the president is concerned about the economy, concerned about the stories of people hurting that he has heard for many, many years, and he's working to do all that he can to create an environment for businesses, small and large, to hire more people. >> you know, the administration this weekend announced it was going to temporarily at least or for the time being suspend the transfer of detainees from

guantanamo bay to yemen. you did transfer six in december. are you -- do you know where those six are? >> i'm not going to get into the -- i think christie asked these questions the other day, and i'm not going to get in to discussing transfers. >> well, okay. given the need to talk to congress and get them on board with the transfer of the prisoners to the thomson correctional center, you need to convert the prison from a maximum security prison to a supermax, do you have any realistic timetable as to when you think guantanamo can actually be closed? >> i think christie also asked that question. i didn't have a timetable answer. obviously we'll work with congress in the upcoming session on many of the things that you talked about, not just retrofitting, but purchasing a prison in thomson. as well as other issues relating to the movement of prisoners from guantanamo to thomson. >> okay.

one last question. i'm sorry. in recent days a member, the leader of the league of the righteous in iraq, who was arrested by u.s. forces in 2007. he was responsible for an attack in karbala that killed five u.s. soldiers. in recent days the u.s. military turned him over to the iraqis and the iraqis have freed him as part of the reconciliation going on there. >> jake, let me ask somebody to -- >> i will tell you. >> well, let me ask -- let me get some information on the -- on that case. i don't have anything in front of me. >> it's a general question. is it appropriate for the u.s. military to turn -- >> jake, let me -- let me -- other than what you've told me, i'm not overly familiar with the details of the case. >> the general principle. should you -- >> i don't want to -- i don't want to generalize something with which you've asked me with great specificity. >> robert, let me ask you about

secretary geithner. republicans on the hill have found some evidence suggesting that under his leadership the new york fed pressured aig to conceal information about billions of dollars of the counterparty payments that were made with taxpayer money. and they're suggesting that he was hiding information from regulators. i wonder, does the white house believe that secretary geithner should testify on the hill, turn over any documents he has, to sort of clear this up? >> ed, i'd point you to the treasury department. i'm sure you've already talked to them. secretary geithner was not involved in any of these e-mails. these decisions did not raise to his level at the fed. these are e-mails and decisions made by officials at an independent regulatory agency. >> how do you know he wasn't involved? he was the leader of the new york fed, sir. >> right. but he wasn't on the e-mails that have been talked about and wasn't party to